Sally Aitken and Aline Jacques Launch SAM Content With Quartet of Australian Film and TV Shows (EXCLUSIVE)

Manori Ravindran International Editor Mark Rylance-led thriller “Inland” has been picked up for international sales by Paris-based sales agent Wide ahead of its BFI London Film Festival premiere. Produced by Black Twist Films, the film stars Rory Alexander, Mark Rylance and Kathryn Hunter and plays in the official selection of the U.K. festival. “Inland” is a modern folktale that explores the fractured identity of a young man after the mysterious disappearance of his mother. Guided by a father figure and old friends who care deeply, his journey through the dreamlike spaces of rural England brings him face to face with the loss that haunts him in ways he could never have expected.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief European-Australian firm Flying Bark Productions has been appointed as the animator of the first of three untitled ‘Avatar’ films from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation. The film series, derived from the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra “animated series, originally created for Nickelodeon by Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, was announced earlier this year. The first feature will be directed by Lauren Montgomery, with Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino producing. Flying Bark, which is based in Belgium and has major facilities in Sydney, Australia, describes the film series as “[pushing] the style and boundaries of hybrid animation [..] it will couple traditional 2D animation with substantial CG elements.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kamila Andini’s “Before Now and Then” (aka “Nana”) topped the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with nods in four categories including best film and best director. The film, about a gentlewoman’s memories of escaping from a Communist purge, narrowly headed three films with three nominations each: “Poet” (aka “Akyn”) by Kazakhstan’s Darezhan Omirbayev; “This Is What I Remember” (aka “Esimde”) by Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Arym Kubat; and Philippines director Lav Diaz’s “When The Waves Are Gone” (“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”). APSA casts its net wide, seeking honors for cinematic excellence from 78 countries and territories defined as Asia Pacific. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at HOTA on Australia’s Gold Coast on Nov. 11, 2022.

Ed Meza @edmezavar U.S. streaming service Topic has inked an exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights deal with Germany’s Beta Film for four European crime series ahead of this year’s Mipcom TV programming mart in Cannes. Dedicated to crime and suspense, Topic, part of First Look Entertainment, picked up the third season of critically acclaimed Austrian-German series “Pagan Peak”; Finnish title “Helsinki Syndrome”; “Silent Road” from Greece; and Croatian-Ukrainian co-production “The Silence.” The agreement also includes renewals of Italian political thriller “1992” and follow-up seasons “1993” and “1994.” Described as Italy’s “House Of Cards,” the show  examines how Italian politics were shaken to the core by a major criminal investigation against widespread corruption in the 1990s.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent YouTube Originals will launch on Nov. 18 “Behind the Beats,” a novel animated pop music anthology series produced by France’s TeamTO and 22D Music Group in partnership with France Télévisions, the French public broadcaster.  Episodes 1-4 of the novel history of pop will also debut on the YouTube Kids app, YouTube Originals Kids & Family announced on Wednesday. YouTube and TeamTO have shared first-look images from the series in exclusivity with Variety.  The deal sees YouTube launching the series worldwide but with a one-year holdback in the French language, where France Télévisions has first-window exclusivity. 

Amazon Prime Video unveiled a slate of six new Australian originals for 2023 at a showcase in Sydney tonight, along with first looks at three Australian scripted dramas that the streamer has already announced. 

 reunion, Matt LeBlanc says it's not in the cards. The cast has all gone on to star in various movies and television shows since departing the beloved sitcom, LeBlanc included, with Courteney Cox most recently appearing on , Jennifer Aniston on , Lisa Kudrow on . ET spoke to LeBlanc at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Gala over the weekend, where he explained why he won't be appearing on his former co-stars' new TV shows — for now«I'm taking some time off right now,» LeBlanc shared.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rithy Panh, director of “Rice People” and “S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine” is an icon of art-house cinema, at once political, unique, and charming. The iconic image may be another of his confections – a palatable work built on uncomfortable facts. On the incomplete evidence of a 50-minute on-stage dialog at the Busan International Film Festival on Sunday, Panh comes across as simultaneously contrarian and principled. A curmudgeonly veteran and yet a filmmaker still curious to learn. “If there were no Khmer Rouge maybe I would not be a filmmaker,” he said of the Communist insurgents, who won the Cambodian civil war in 1975 and whose brutality and atrocities he has spent a lifetime documenting and exposing.

Emma Thompson, Stephen Graham, and Lashana Lynch passed through the London Film Festival on Wednesday, where they discussed their new film Matilda The Musical, directed by Matthew Warchus.

returns for season 3 on Wednesday, picking up four months after the events of the finale, which saw Nicky's world blow up — in more ways than one. There was the breakup with Henry; losing an unlikely ally in Zhilan, who sacrificed herself for Nicky (but will be back ); and the potential return of a seemingly resurrected Pei-Ling, Nicky's shifu (or Xiao, the ancient creator of the warrior/guardian bloodlines, or someone else).

Lil Nas X is both star and inspiration for a new short film from famed fashion house Coach launching their new brand purpose, “Courage to Be Real,” set to be released today.

A trio of senior international execs are taking their new Asia content-focused company to Mipcom Cannes.

Naman Ramachandran Vijay Sethupathi (“Vikram”), Aditi Rao Hydari (“Hey Sinamika”), Arvind Swamy (“Thalaivi”) and Siddharth Jadhav (“Tamasha Live”) will star in film “Gandhi Talks.” While plot details are under wraps, the film is described as a dark comedy. A teaser for the film was released on Oct. 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The film will be dialogue free and the only aural language will be the music by Oscar-, BAFTA- and Grammy- winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”). It will be directed by Kishore P. Belekar (“Hajari”). Produced by Zee Studios (“36 Farmhouse”), ‘Gandhi Talks’ is co-produced with Kyoorious Digital (“420 IPC”) and Movie Mill Entertainment (“Respect”).

Naman Ramachandran Neil Maskell, whose acting credits include “Kill List” and “Peaky Blinders,” makes his feature directorial debut with “Klokkenluider,” which is playing at the BFI London Film Festival. A dark comic thriller, the film revolves around a hapless government whistleblower and his partner who hide out in a remote Belgian cottage, accompanied by two eccentric bodyguards. “‘Klokkenluider’ came out of a combination of circumstances. I was on holiday in East Flanders and the atmosphere of the house we were staying in set off some voices in my head. There were four characters and they were trapped there but it took me a while to work out who they were” Maskell told Variety.

Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin star in CBS' new drama, which follows razor-sharp attorney Margaret Wright, who hires her talented but aimless son, Todd, as her law firm's in-house investigator. ET was first on the Vancouver set in August, where Harden and Astin previewed their series, which premieres Thursday.«Dynamic duo, that’s us,» Astin told ET's Lauren Zima on the set in August while they were filming episode 3. «I love working with Marcia. I love sparring with Marcia in the scenes.

cast is full of comedians!ET exclusively premieres a first look at the hilarious bloopers featured in the season 2 DVD release, in stores Tuesday, and it's nearly impossible to have a laugh as series stars Olivia Liang, Eddie Liu, Gavin Stenhouse and others get silly on set.In the video, the castmates get into a giggle fit in an action scene gone slightly awry to Liang and Liu playing to the camera in between scenes to the cast unable to contain their professionalism when one of them flubs their lines. Of course, it wouldn't be a gag reel without some (bleeped out) F-bombs after some dialogue mess-ups!The series follows Nicky Shen (Liang), a young Chinese American who drops out of college and goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China.

Liza Foreman Spanish production and distribution company Bteam Pictures has picked up all rights for Spain to San Sebastián competition title “Los Reyes del Mundo” (“Kings of the World”). Film Factory Entertainment brokered the deal with Bteam partners Ania Jones, Alex Lafuente and Lara Pérez Camiña. Film Factory’s Vicente Canales confirmed to Variety that the company is handling worldwide sales for the film, excluding France, Benelux, Colombia and Mexico.  “Bteam is well known for distributing quality films in Spain and has already released several of our Spanish pictures,” said Canales. “We believe they are the best match for ‘Kings of the World,’ which is one of the most important Colombian films of the year.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Amazon Freevee is getting into business with Bishop T.D. Jakes, signing a two-year deal with the spiritual figure to launch a FAST (free, ad-supported streaming) channel and provide on-demand access to 300 hours of Jakes’ content. The deal, which launches Dec. 1 and covers rights in the U.S., UK and Germany, will include sermons, interviews and other unscripted, faith-based programming from Jakes’ library — which has been amassed over 45 years. While the programming will be available on demand at that time, the FAST channel will launch in early 2023 on Amazon Freevee and within Prime Video. Michael Phillips, the chief operating officer of T.D. Jakes Enterprises, will oversee the programming output.

, an opportunity he jumped on despite previously leaving Katie Thurston's season of because his now 6-year-old son, James, was struggling with his absence.«Since we've had some history of doing this in the past, we were a little bit more prepared this time around,» Michael told ET of himself and James. «He's with my parents and my in-laws, and they came to him with this vacation package while I was gone.

Ime Udoka, the fiance of actress Nia Long, could reportedly face a one-year suspension from the NBA.